Appreciating the role of women
Luke 2:36-40
There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of
the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in
years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then
as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and
prayer. And coming forward at that very
time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting
the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of
the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of
Nazareth. The child grew and became
strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
I’m not a
big fan of Saturday Night Live, but I must confess that I did rather enjoy the
skit called “Church Chat” with the proverbial “church lady.” Have you seen it? It’s rather funny, with an elderly lady,
dressed very conservatively, her hair wound tightly, who blames most of the
world’s problems on Satan. In every
skit, she concludes by asking rhetorically, “Could it be…Satan?!” Now, stop looking around the church to see if
you can spot any church ladies here this morning! The skit is obviously a spoof and not
intended to be serious. But every church
can count among its congregation a good number of true “church ladies,” by that
I mean women who dedicate themselves to prayer, to sacrifice, and to helping
the needy. How many men have become
Catholic inspired by the example of a devout Catholic woman, often their
spouse? Our RCIA class is full of such
men! Anyone who thinks the Catholic
Church discriminates against women because only men can be ordained priests
needs to take a closer look at who’s really running the church. The men may be the priests, but the women are
doing everything else! The church ladies
are in charge! And, in my humble
opinion, that’s not such a bad thing.
In the
gospel today, we meet the original church lady in the Bible, Anna the
prophetess. After a 7-year marriage she
became a widow and she dedicated herself to prayer and fasting. It was this deep spiritual life that
immediately disposed her to recognize who the child Jesus truly was, and she
declares it to everyone, just like church ladies do today. You see, Anna didn’t waste her time blaming
Satan, she spent her time blessing God, and that’s what true church ladies
always do.
On August
15, 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote an apostolic exhortation called
“Mulieris Dignitatem” (Latin for, “The Dignity of Women”), in which he
basically called every Christian woman to become a true “church lady,” in the
best sense of the word. The saintly pope
described a true church lady as a kind of “perfect woman” and wrote, “The
‘perfect woman’ (cf. Prov. 31:10) becomes an irreplaceable support and source
of spiritual strength for other people, who perceive the great energies of her
spirit.” Now, listen to this next
stunning sentence: “These ‘perfect women’ are owed much by their families, and
sometimes by whole nations” (MD, 30). In
other words, women, especially these perfect women, have played a huge role in
the history of the world, and in the history of salvation. The pope sees Anna the prophetess as one of
those “perfect women,” who inspire and strengthen others. And, by the way, who are "these
others" that these perfect women inspire and strengthen? Could it be…MEN?!
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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